Ups and Downs

Friday we had a very busy day! We did our school lessons which included things like three digit multiplication (as in 234 x 987 = ), reading lessons, early Native American history through the second lesson of Notgrass's America the Beautiful, algebra, and subtraction with having to borrow numbers in two digits (as in 27 - 9 = ). During which I began our five loads of laundry, that many because I stripped both girls beds to wash their sheets and blankets. We then took a walk to the store and had lunch when we got home. Followed by cleaning up the yard from the deck project (cold weather kept us from it for the most part) and more laundry. When Daddy got home from his day with Grandma and Papa we went for a walk, did more laundry, and went to the pet store for bunny food. Lastly we had supper (tuna noodle casserole), did more laundry, relaxed by watching Netflix, and did some crafting. WHEW! When I type it all out I feel exhausted! Right before bed we discovered that our electric hot water heater had gone out. We'll be trying a rebuild kit before buying another hot water heater and we'll get that probably Sunday while we're out. A few days of heating water on the stove for washing dishes and quick wash-ups of faces and arms won't kill us. (Just another thing to add to the list of things that need done. It never ends when you own a house and have children.)

On Saturday Peanut had another retreat for her catechism class first thing in the morning. It was supposed to last just an hour but went more than half an hour over. I learned that since we've been homeschooling I've lost all patience for things that take longer than necessary because you're waiting on over thirty other people to finish doing what took you less than five minutes to do. Perhaps I need to work on that some more now that I think of it. Patience is a virtue after all. After we got back from that we spent the majority of the day simply vegging out with movies on Netflix together and snacking on junk food. Popcorn lunch anyone? I, of course, spent most of my day crocheting. ECJ was in charge of washing his own bedding because it desperately needed done and at age 15 he can certainly do it himself. Sunday we went to early mass so that Daddy could make his appointment and I could go with him again. After which we stopped at a local hardware store to pick up everything that we needed. Oh, did I mention that our shut off valve for the children's bathroom toilet was dripping and needed replaced ... AND we now have a leak in the kitchen from the ceiling which we found out because of all the rain this weekend. Yeah! Fun! *eye roll* (Can you sense my sarcasm here? lol).

Sunday Daddy and I went to his weekly appointment first thing in the morning and then stopped at Lowes for the shut off valve for the kids toilet and the tune up kit for our hot water heater. Two trips to other hardware stores for parts and tools later we again had hot water and a functioning kids bathroom again! Showers and two toilets! These are the things that are romantic to me! Plus, I didn't have to cook again this night because Daddy bought subs for supper. A semi-relaxing, but definitely happy, start to the new week! I cannot ask for more! Celebrated the hot water being back by taking a shower which made me feel instantly more human and ready to face the week ahead.

On Monday we woke up late and still got lessons done before 1 PM. Which was a good thing because YCJ's appointment at the orthopedic surgeon was just after 2 PM. The appointment went well with the doctor thinking that there was just some fluid from the impact of the fall that had accumulated and would eventually dissipate on it's own and the fact that she probably bruised the bone which would also heal given enough time. We have an MRI scheduled for Thursday morning just to rule out any damage to any of the tendons because of how long her knee has been bothering her. But, we're all much more relaxed after seeing the doctor. She's cleared for our field trip with Noni for Tuesday so it's a great thing and will take all of our minds off of it even more! Tuesday we were all set for our field trip ... a trip to the bowling alley and a few games. Then, when we got there, they informed us that we had been misinformed on the phone and there was no open bowling. Instead of doing what we had planned we instead went to the mall and walked around having lunch at a local restaurant.

Wednesday we took the day off of school (meaning we'll do school this Sunday) to go down to Grandma and Papa's house. We cleaned up, went shopping with them, and took out their old living room furniture before their new furniture arrived. After a long day cleaning and working there we came home, cleaned more, and then took out our old furniture to bring in the furniture that had been at Grandma and Papa's house! I covered both the couch and the love chair with blankets so that they wouldn't get covered with dog hair since our dogs don't understand the concept of not getting on the furniture.

On Thursday we went to Daddy's appointment at the orthopedic surgeon, got rescheduled for YCJ's MRI until next week, and then came home and did lessons while Daddy had another appointment. After lessons were done we worked with clay to make art projects ... I didn't give anyone any guidance just allowed them to make whatever they chose to make. This is what they each came up with:

A dog and two ash trays

We'll paint them when they're completely dry.

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Posts you may have missed this week:
The Boy Called It - Book Review

Linking up with Weekly Wrap Up and Homeschool Highlights.

The Boy Called It - Book Review

The Boy Called It

By - Dave Pelzer

Book Review

Honestly, I didn't look into this book before I began reading it. I read the back of the book, took a big gulp, thought to myself how bad can it really be? ... and began reading. I wasn't even two chapters in when it brought tears to my eyes. This poor child! How could anybody, let alone someone's mother, do this to a child? And it got worse from there! 

The book itself is written well and reads well but emotionally this book is a stinker! It'll make you cry and get angry by turns over and over again in every single chapter. And just when you think there can't possibly be anything worse that happens to this child you find out that you were wrong! The horrors just keep getting heaped upon him and it makes it worse for you to realize that this is a true story. This happened to this little boy. His mother was truly a monster. And it makes you weep.

I couldn't get through the book in one sitting, though some morbid part of my brain kept pushing me to read more. I set it aside right before I went to bed and I had nightmares all night long. I was an outsider trying to help this poor boy and nothing that I did was enough to help and I had to watch as the woman who should have been protecting and loving him tortured him. I had the same nightmare over and over again and each time it ended the same way.

I did finish this book in two nights. Not because I wanted more nightmares but because I needed to get through it ... there's more books after this one and I'd never get to the good parts of this poor boy's life if I couldn't get through the worst parts. The last two chapters I read in a frenzy to finish. To get beyond what had happened to this poor child. To grasp just how truly evil some people are and that they do indeed live in this world with us.

You never truly know what goes on in other people's houses. This book is a sad reminder of that fact. And I'd like to applaud the brave people who risked their jobs to save this boy from the torture that he went through in his young life.

The One With St. Paddy's Day

Friday was Saint Patrick's Day! Everyone in the family wore at least a little green when we got up to celebrate the day, Peanut didn't have any shirts with green on them so she wore socks with green on them. No one wanted to get pinched for not wearing green! We went down to Grandma and Papa's house to help out a little bit and visit. Grandma is doing so much better! YCJ ran the vacuum for Grandma, ECJ took out the garbage, Peanut visited and made her smile, Daddy ran several errands, and I filled the Jet Dry compartment on the dishwasher and did the dishes while we were there. We were there for several hours and I'd brought them down some corned beef and cabbage so that they could eat it over the weekend (they do not eat meat on any Friday but certainly not during Lent). When we came home I transferred our corned beef and veggies from the crock pot to the stove top pot and added the cabbage. Everyone enjoyed the special meal that we only eat once a year. I also finished the baby sampler that I was cross stitching to give to my sister and I LOVE how it turned out!

On Saturday we decided to just hang out and relax. Of course all the pets were cared for including Sugar Baby, the new rabbit and other chores were done. But, for the most part we hung out watching Netflix and crafting. The kids watched several shows in the living room including Monster High and Ever After High while Daddy and I completed watching all the seasons of Jail Break and I crocheted. I'm currently working on another of my nieces (I have six nieces and two nephews) blankets for Christmas, I plan on each of them getting either a toddler sized blanket (for the two youngest) or a twin sized blanket (for the other six) so that they have something that they can use for years and for most of them possibly take them to college with them. One blanket down with seven more to go!

Sunday Daddy had his regular appointment so we did the lessons we skipped on Friday while Daddy was gone. We actually got them all finished in less than an hour and a half. Noni let me know which date she'd be coming out again, I talked to Grandma on the phone about saving newspapers for the bunny cage, and did a complete load of laundry while the campers did their lessons as well. Sometimes people ask me how we seem to get everything done and that's how. I do laundry while teaching, lessons take less time than public schools because there are no breaks between subjects and there's less students, and we have our routine. YCJ literally mentioned how she does better without routines and I had to explain to her what our routine actually is. While we really have no set times for getting up or doing lessons we do have our routine. We get up, do chores, eat breakfast, do lessons, do more chores, have lunch, relax and enjoy personal pursuits, have supper, and go to bed. That's our normal every day routine ... there's not a whole lot of structure to it but everyone knows what to expect next and even if we change something for a day or two we make sure that everyone is on the same page so no one stresses out over the change. Once our lessons were done we all basically did what we chose to do for the rest of the day. Well, except for the rest of the laundry that was done ... I don't know many people who would choose to do laundry if it didn't need to be done.

Peanut in the dress
that she chose!

Monday we really should have done lessons but both Daddy and I woke up with headaches, YCJ's head and knee were bothering her, and to be honest I didn't wake up until after 11 AM (yup, slept in and don't feel a bit guilty about it). Instead of doing lessons we called the day off and just hung out and relaxed as a family. I taught the girls how to clean the entire rabbit cage, we played with Sugar Baby for a little while, and of course I crocheted. Netflix was involved in our day off as I'm sure you've already guessed. And although the weather was warm enough to play outside our yard was just one big mud pit and the girls didn't feel like getting dirty. I made a strawberry topped cheesecake and planned on soup and sandwiches for supper. All in all, even with a load of laundry, it was a very relaxing day. On Tuesday we drove down to Grandma and Papa's house so that we could go dress shopping with Grandma for Peanut's first communion dress. We hung out for an hour or so afterwards but had to get home because the girls had catechism class to attend at 5 PM. We had chili for supper and it was better than when Daddy had made it on Sunday. (We also took some chili down to Papa because it's one of his favorites that we make and he'd run out of what we'd taken him last month.) YCJ's knee was still bothering her so we set a doctor appointment up for Wednesday, she'd had a big wipe out last month on her bike and although there's no obvious evidence of injury (she'd had a bruise but nothing else that showed wrong and she can put pressure on it) it still bothers her almost daily. Better safe than sorry in our opinion though we really don't think that there's anything wrong other than she knocked it harder than we thought and it'll be ok, but we'll find out for sure tomorrow.



On Wednesday YCJ had a doctor appointment and Daddy took her to that but then picked me up to go to the hospital to get x-rays of the knee. We'll get the results from the x-rays probably on Thursday but likely we'll be seeing a specialist because there was some extra movement in the knee that the doctor didn't really like and she's favoring it so you can tell that she's in pain. She was also given a new prescription that she now needs to take nightly to see if they help with her headaches ... we're to call back about how it's working in a week or so and she's to see the regular doctor again in a month. After careful consideration of how our schedule has been this week I have decided that we'll forgo the book lessons for the week and do our online lessons along with individual projects for the rest of the week. I'll just move this week's lesson plans to next week and since we'll be taking next Tuesday off because Noni is coming and we're going on a field trip we'll possibly do lessons on Sunday this week (which is really nothing unusual for us). After YCJ cooked herself and the other campers lunch and we picked up her medicine we all relaxed for the rest of the day. Watching movies together on Netflix and playing on other electronics while YCJ tried to stay off of her knee and relax. 

Thursday Daddy and I both had appointments a few towns over so ECJ watched the girls while we were gone. YCJ's doctor called while we were out and gave us the appointment for the orthopedic surgeon which will be on Monday, YCJ has water on her knee in the joint and it could be hiding a bigger problem. So, we'll be going in to sort things out. The rest of the day after we got back was pretty much just online lessons and snuggling with the bunny. Right now Sugar Baby gets out of the cage three times a day and hops around the girls room for exercise. We learned our lesson in feeding her too much cabbage because it made her not feel so well for a couple of days and she's just now getting back to feeling normal. Daddy cooked tonight by buying us pizza, which is always a hit with everyone. Few dishes, filling food, and everyone pretty much likes the same stuff so it's simple and fast.

After reconsidering our schedule next week with YCJ's appointment and Noni coming out the next day we've decided to go ahead and do school both tomorrow (Friday) and Sunday so that we can get everything done that's in the lesson plans by next Friday. Daddy has appointments both tomorrow and Sunday so we'll simply do lessons while he's not here and keep ourselves busy. If we don't do lessons on Sunday (just depends on if I go with Daddy to his appointment or not) we'll just have to get our lessons done Monday morning to keep on schedule. No big deal. I love the flexibility of homeschooling!

Posts you may have missed this week:
Shimmer - Book Review

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Linking up for the Weekly Wrap Up and Homeschool Highlights.

Shimmer - Book Review

Shimmer

By - Alyson Noel

The book Shimmer is the second in Ms Noel's series starring the main character Riley, the young woman who's passed on to the Here and Now. You can read my review of the first book in the series Radiance here. In this book, even though Riley and her partners are technically on vacation, she gets herself into a rather big puddle of trouble that she drags her friends into as well. She learns from having to deal with this trouble just exactly what she's actually made of and helps not only herself and her friends but also several lost souls in the process. But, will she be rewarded for her efforts ... and if she is rewarded will it matter?

I cannot say how much I love this book and the one before it. They're short reads but well written and something that even my teenage boy doesn't mind reading (and doesn't realize that there's character lessons in them). Several more of Ms Noel's books, from this series and others, can be found on Amazon here. I'm sure that you can find them several other places as well and before I buy the next books in this series, and perhaps other books that she's written in other series, I'll be looking at my library to see if I can borrow them. Of course this means that I have to pay my library fine so that we can check books out of the library again (somehow a movie got lost in translation between us and the library and it can't be found at either place so we have to pay to replace it). 

I really need to get to the next book in this series though because I really want to know if Riley does get rewarded for her efforts or not!

I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars.

The Ides of March

So we've reached the middle of March. I left off last Thursday (as I do most weeks because Fridays are usually a bit busy for us) with not knowing our exact plans for Friday. Our Friday turned out with just Daddy heading down to Grandma and Papa's house to help out and pick up several of our lamps that were still camping out in their basement, he also bought dinner for himself and them while he was there. The campers and I did lessons just after Daddy left around 11 AM and were done before two, including online lessons. YCJ's reading is going really well and she's continuing to work through the fourth grade level books that our library gave us several months ago. With Saint Patrick's Day coming up in just a week's time we did some coloring pages to decorate the girls window since it's at the front of the house and can be seen from the street. I also printed out a word search for the campers to do next Friday and a bit of copy work for them. After lessons and coloring I went off into the bedroom to crochet for a few hours and got the majority of one of the blankets finished for a Christmas gift. In between everything three loads of laundry was done, dishes were done, vacuuming was accomplished, and my bedding was stripped and the bed remade. After Daddy got home we straightened up the campers bedrooms with the intent to organize the whole house (well, pretty much) on Saturday.



I also found out that one of my friends will be sending me several packages of seeds for our garden! So many seeds that I've already asked two of my close friends if they'd like some and have plans for giving the rest of the extra away as well. I should have them towards the middle of the week! We won't be planting until next month because I refuse to transfer plants outside until the threat of frost is over ... But, we'll be posting pictures on Facebook (follow the link to go directly to Homeschool Campers Facebook page) the entire planting process and while we're building the raised beds outside!

Saturday we didn't end up organizing the house so much as running errands. The rest of the monthly grocery shopping had to be done (this month we came in $60 under budget which means we have a little wiggle room if we need extra of something) and a few other errands. We weren't home more than a few minutes when Daddy found a whole lot of free workbooks and teacher's books on Craigslist so we were off again. When I say a whole lot of them I mean two HUGE boxes! It took me over forty-five minutes to sort through them in the living room and to come to the conclusion that I have enough here with different grade levels to keep us in workbooks until Peanut finishes next school year ... PLUS I have enough science books that are K-8 that I won't have to buy any science curriculum until YCJ hits ninth grade in a few more years (she's only in 5th grade now). To say that I'm thrilled is an understatement y'all! I used the leftover taco meat from Thursday to make nachos this night so dinner literally took less than fifteen minutes to make start to finish and then Daddy and I chose to relax instead of organize the house.

On Sunday we went to church and Daddy went to his weekly appointment a few towns over. While he was gone we worked on the last bit of lessons scheduled for last week and got them done quickly without fuss. After he got home we had several projects to get started or work on. One was the girls room, getting it more organized and clean. We accomplished everything but going through their dressers. ECJ was in charge of getting his room actually clean and not just "teenager" clean, and although it took him most of the day he got that done. We were going to tackle working on the front bathroom but instead we relaxed during the late afternoon and evening when the snow started to trickle down.





Monday morning Daddy and I snuck out of the house after just ECJ had woken up to pick up our new bunny for the girls. Her name is Sugar Baby and her daddy bit off one of her ears when she was a baby. She's between three and four years old now and we got her with all of her goodies and her cage completely for free. (This is our week to find awesomeness it seems!) Sugar Baby is a complete hit with the girls and is now living in their room. The cat has yet to meet her but the dogs have (through the cage) and although they are curious they aren't aggressive towards her. Not that we'd let them in the same room when she's out of the cage because well ... dogs and bunnies do not normally mix on good terms. We did lessons after the girls met their new pet and flew through them without any complaint and with everyone doing very well on their work. We also began our Notgrass History America the Beautiful this day. We've decided to do one lesson a week to start out. Since I plan on using this same history next year while the girls are doing The Prairie Primer there is no need at this time to work on it at full pace. Peanut isn't even in the grade that America the Beautiful is recommended for (5-8) and YCJ is only in 5th grade this year. On top of that I plan on doing this same book again with Peanut when she hits about sixth grade. All in all it was a wonderful day with the rest of it spent playing with our new bunny, watching Netflix, crafting, and watching light snow fall without much accumulation to speak of. Winter really isn't over yet I guess.

Tuesday was a Noni day. So, we didn't have any lessons. Instead Noni came over and bought McDonald's for lunch and then we watched Trolls (you can buy it on Amazon here ... nope, I'm not an affiliate) which provided a lot of giggles and happy faces. Combine that with the candy we ate while watching it an we were all set! A couple hours after Noni left the girls had catechism class, like most Tuesday nights. On our way back from dropping them off we stopped and got our mail where I found that a friend of mine had sent me a bunch of seeds for planting! I'd been expecting some seeds but not nearly as much as she sent me! I simply cannot wait until spring!!! I'm so ready to start our little garden. And not to worry, I'll be spreading the love and giving seeds to some friends of mine as well. This really has been our week for free awesomeness! We are blessed! Daddy cooked this night so I didn't have to think about cooking anything at all and we ate about an hour after the girls got home from catechism. A long day and an early night kept us all well contented. 


Daddy had to go help Grandma and Papa out again on Wednesday so, even though we all woke up a little late, we did our lessons first thing after Daddy left and were done within two hours ... even including working on our new History notebooks. Afterward Peanut watched some cartoons on Netflix in the living room, ECJ worked on his Minecraft project that he hasn't shown me yet, and YCJ sat with me while we finished watching a show I enjoyed on Netflix in my bedroom while I worked on a cross stitch that I plan to send to my sister for my nephew. It's 5x7 and I plan to have it done no later than Saturday ... we shall see if I can succeed in that endeavor. Daddy didn't get home until it was the girls bedtime and they were so excited to see him and have good night snuggles before bed. We're planning on all going down on Friday to help Grandma and Papa some more and do our Friday lessons on Saturday or Sunday depending on what else we end up having to do this weekend. As an aside, Moragon pouted until Daddy got home. As you can see she kept staring at the door waiting for him to walk back in it.

Thursday morning Daddy had another appointment (he goes every Thursday and Sunday to this specific appointment) and we did lessons just as soon as he left because we know that we have time to get lessons done while he is gone and that means that we have the rest of the day to do what we each enjoy. ECJ worked on his Great Wall of China in Minecraft for about half an hour before graciously handing his tablet over to Peanut so that she could play Minecraft for a while and YCJ turned on Monster High on Netflix to continue watching the seasons in order. It's one of her favorite shows. ECJ kind of began messing with his guitar again but still hasn't broken out the DVD and book that I bought him a few weeks back. Once Daddy was home I retreated into the bedroom to work on a cross stitch that I'm making for my sister to hang on her wall all about my one year old nephew. I'll be working on it off and on for the majority of the day. We have a trip to the store to do this evening to have everything ready to take down to Grandma and Papa's house tomorrow (Friday) . I'll be making corned beef and cabbage while we're down there, straightening up the house, and getting one of the bedrooms ready for when my sister in law and her children come up for a couple days at the beginning of next month from Texas.

ECJ struggled with Algebra 1 this week and took to drinking coffee while working on it just because he claims that it helps. He's still writing a paragraph each day about his reading in Language Arts and History. YCJ has finally reached a point in her math book where it's becoming a challenge ... but she enjoys math the most right now basically because she knows that she's a grade ahead in math at this point. Peanut worked on present tense verbs and all their different forms this week, improved her reading, and did most of her math without my help! I'm so proud of these three campers!

Linking up this week with Weird Unsocialized Homeschooler's Weekly Wrap Up and Homeschool Highlights.

Sprinter (Spring and Winter)

Friday Grandma had surgery on her neck. Daddy went down to spend the day with his father at the hospital and to make sure he ate at least once. Grandma stayed overnight in the hospital and Daddy came home late in the evening after debating staying the night at her house. He came home only because Peanut had a retreat at the church for her first communion and it would be too cold in the morning for us to walk the two miles or so to get there. Saturday morning we got up relatively early and took Peanut to her retreat where she proceeded to make her banner that would hang on the end of the pew on the day she makes her first communion. It's a nice little touch that our parish has done for several years, though we've never seen it before since we haven't lived here that long and for the first several months we did live here we drove down to Grandma and Papa's church on Sundays. Grandma got to come home and we talked to Papa on the phone to check on her. Daddy and I ran several errands in the afternoon and the campers spent most of the day challenging each other on electronics ... they're allowed free time on them during the weekends because we've taken them away during the week.

On Sunday we went to church and then Daddy had an appointment a couple of towns over. When he got back he and I ran the rest of the errands that needed running before the week began. As soon as we were home Daddy placed three bolts into the front deck/porch where they were missing because we hadn't bought enough. I started to do the dishes only to have the faucet explode and put water everywhere. So, Daddy abandoned his project for the back steps and we went to Menards and bought a brand new faucet and drain things which Daddy spent about an hour installing. No more leaks! And I LOVE my new faucet! Later that night Daddy and I ended up in the emergency room because he'd hurt his right knee again. We were there until midnight and Daddy finally agreed to get the surgery to fix his knee after spending the last five years with a torn patella tendon and his kneecap in his thigh.

Monday morning I had an appointment which Daddy ran me to. By the time I got home at 12:30 I ate a quick lunch and we began our lessons at 1 PM. The temperatures were back in the 50's after a freezing cold weekend and light snow showers ... however, it was a rainy day so the campers only spent about an hour outside after lessons. YCJ struggled with getting her math done this day ... lots of major multiplication on a Monday will do that to you. Peanut learned about the life cycles of frogs and then independently looked up the life cycle of butterflies. I think we just may have a project for this summer above and beyond our gardening and maybe we'll grow ourselves some frogs from tadpoles. ECJ struggled a little with his Algebra this day but only because his brain was still asleep from the weekend ... or so he told me.


We picked up some herbs and tomato seeds in two kits during our errand running. It's too early to begin planting them even in the house (because of transplant to the outdoors timing) but I could not pass up the deal in how much they cost. Daddy will be building me a raised bed garden behind the house and I have some containers as well. Next month starts our seedlings off and the campers will be charting growth again this year to see if this year's garden is better than last year.

I also received our complementary materials from Notgrass History on Monday! I'll be doing a review of the curriculum sometime in late April early May so make sure you keep an eye out for it! I'm very impressed just looking at the material and plan on beginning to use it next week after the second student workbook (that I ordered on Monday) comes in the mail so that both girls can use it. Although America the Beautiful is meant for grades 5-8 I figure that Peanut should be able to go through the material with a little help now and I can always buy yet another student workbook for her to use as we go through the material again when she's older.

On Tuesday I had another appointment in the morning. I managed one cup of coffee before leaving and drank another two when I got home about an hour later. The campers took the opportunity to watch some cartoons before doing lessons. We began our lessons around 11:30 in the morning and were done (except for ECJ struggling with his algebra) before 1:30 in the afternoon. The girls turned Netflix cartoons back on, I love that they're not bombarded with commercials from regular TV or cable since we do not have cable. In our opinion it is an expense that is unnecessary and something that we would only use during the winter ... much cheaper just to pay for Netflix on two devices. We spent the afternoon relaxing while it drizzled rain in the 50 degree weather we were having. Cartoons for the campers, Bones for Daddy and I, and I kept working on the place mats that I'm making for our home and a friend's home. The girls had catechism at 5 PM so ECJ spent the time that the girls were gone to build a pyramid on Minecraft to go along with his Egyptian studies for the day. We stopped while we were out picking the girls up to get some tacos for supper, a bit of a splurge on our parts as we don't eat out more than once a month usually but with the girls being gone during the supper hour and not wanting to start something else in the crock pot this seemed like the best solution. I literally made no menu for this week whatsoever.

Wednesday was a busy day for us. We'd originally planned on doing lessons this day but woke up later than planned and shifted lessons around so that we'll do school one day this weekend instead. We got dressed and ready and then went to Grandma and Papa's house to help them out a bit while Grandma is recovering from her surgery. The temperature was in the low 50's but the winds were upwards of 60 miles an hour with gusts up to 80 miles an hour. The drive down to their house we were being blown all over the road in our big truck. While we were at Grandma's house Daddy climbed up on the roof to nail down some loose shingles for Papa that if they'd been left loose would have flown all over the neighborhood. ECJ even got up there after Daddy got down to nail the very last shingle down that was still blowing in the wind. Daddy also ran the vacuum while I cleaned off the stove, got Grandma her pain pills, and made her some cinnamon toast to go with her meds. We got a little lost on our way home thanks to traffic lights being out from power outages and ended up on an hour long ride through the country down some very windy dirt roads.


So, Thursday was pretty much relaxed. Daddy had an appointment in the morning that he had to go to so we did our lessons while he was gone. We got them all done in about two hours including the online lessons. ECJ joined us in the living room to do lessons again today instead of doing them in his room as usual. He also spent about half an hour extra after lessons strengthening his understanding of Spanish and Dutch on Duolingo. He's doing Dutch simply because he likes it. Spanish is the language that he's studying for credit this year. Daddy and I went to the grocery store when he got home to pick up a few things for ourselves for the next couple of days and some stuff to take to Grandma and Papa on Friday.


I'm leaving off here because we haven't decided yet if we'll be joining Daddy in going to Grandma and Papa's house on Friday. If not we'll only be doing lessons one day this weekend if we do go then we'll be schooling all weekend. Noni is coming next Tuesday so I did our lesson planning around that for another four day week next week. Perhaps we'll be going to the movie theater if I can find something that the campers would like to see. Also, I entitled this post Sprinter as a play on Spring and Winter because this week has been a mixture of both seasons and this mamma cannot wait until Spring!



Chicken Parmesan my way:
Chicken breasts or cooked chicken cubed up
Red sauce - jarred spaghetti sauce works
Mozzarella cheese
onion powder
garlic powder 
salt and pepper

Either cook chicken breasts in a skillet until fully cooked or cube up already cooked chicken. Add spaghetti sauce to the pan with seasonings and simmer for about ten minutes. If cooking the chicken breasts then top with mozzarella cheese and cook until melted. If using cubed precooked chicken scoop onto a plate and top with mozzarella then melt the cheese in the microwave. Serve with a side of rice or noodles and garlic bread.

Posts you may have missed this week -
Radiance - Book Review

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Radiance - Book Review

Radiance

By: Alyson Noel

Book Review

Have you ever sat and wondered what happens to you after life? What Heaven is like? Just what do you do for eternity? This book just might be for you! In a wonderfully written short novel Alyson Noel tells us through the eyes of the main character, a spunky recently dead preteen, what happens after you pass on.

Part of this book takes place in what the author calls the Here and Now (aka the spiritual plane). We start with this head strong preteen taking us through her experiences of what has happened to her since she's passed away. She's not confused as to if she's dead or not but the rules of her new reality are a little hard to get used to right away.

She's given a job of having to help wayward souls to cross the bridge into the Here and Now instead of lingering on here with us on earth where they're not fulfilling their destiny. Follow her on her trip and smile at each success she has.

This little novel is just a short read and one that I really enjoyed. Pick this book up or borrow it from the library and enjoy yourself a good little read!

Winter or Spring?

This past weekend we did lessons on Saturday and then visited with Grandma and Papa on Sunday. The weather both days reminded us that it was indeed still winter and we were bundled up just heading from the house to the truck. Not much time was spent outside and Daddy and I didn't feel very well all weekend, thankfully none of the campers got sick with whatever crud we had.


Monday we did our lessons starting around eleven A.M., we don't get started much earlier than that on any given day because none of us really functions well first thing in the morning. We do have some stray odd days where we'll begin lessons early but that rarely every happens. ECJ took a break after history and before math to help Daddy finish putting the railings on the deck. Math was finished after supper for him, which is fine with him because he literally can school any time of the day or night and be comfortable. The girls took a break after lunch to walk with me to check the mail and then quickly knocked out their online lessons. After that was done both girls played outside while Daddy and ECJ worked on the railings and I quickly updated this post. After such a busy day we had pancakes, turkey bacon, and eggs for supper which wasn't on our menu plan that I had posted (ah well, I rarely follow the plan exactly anyways). I love that the weather was in the 50's again this day!

On Tuesday Noni came out. Instead of book lessons and online lessons we made bagel melts for lunch and then snuggled together on the couch to watch movies from RedBox. We watched Storks and The Wild Life. Both were good with Storks being the better of the two movies. Noni and I had stopped at the grocery store for bagel melts (recipe to follow below) fixings for lunch and before watching the movies Noni and I whipped up a hearty lunch for the campers and ourselves. The girls had catechism this evening and so I changed supper from our menu plan again and made sausages with corn. I did this because the girls aren't home until close to six thirty in the evening and I hadn't taken anything out for the crock pot and none of us were very hungry after stuffing ourselves at lunchtime.

Wednesday the temperatures were again in the 50's ... but we had a steady, drizzly rain all day after the storms that swept in late Tuesday night. I only scheduled three days worth of lessons this week so when Daddy and YCJ didn't feel good when we all woke up I called the day off. We'll instead do lessons on Friday which I had originally scheduled off because Grandma is having surgery. Also, the third of the month is usually when we do all of our running around for errands. However, Daddy will be with Grandma and Papa all day on Friday so we'll be doing our errand running on Saturday and doing lessons Friday will help to keep us busy and not as worried. We spent the day watching movies, Netflix, and reading. I crocheted, doing my baby hat for the day and working on a Christmas gift afterwards. I did manage to get 28 newborn baby hats done in February (still on track with my goal of one baby hat per day this year, I haven't decided how many months I'll do the newborn hat size having done two months worth of preemie hats). With this day being Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of Lent, we went and got our ashes during the afternoon (since no one was feeling well enough to go to mass except for ECJ ... Peanut and I beginning to feel ill earlier in the afternoon) and we had some tuna noodle casserole for supper ... with lots extra being leftover for lunch either Thursday or Friday. I'm including the recipe that I made up for tuna noodle casserole at the bottom of this post as well. And just to make things interesting we went from in the 50's during the day to in the 30's and snowing before ten PM.



Thursday everyone was feeling a bit better, Daddy had an appointment in the morning so we started our lessons a little earlier in the day than usual while he was gone. Lessons were done rather quickly with ECJ playing some of the campers favorite music on his radio so we were jamming while doing book lessons. I signed us up (a few days late) for Holy Heroes Lenten Adventures. I put a turkey and stuffing in the oven around one in the afternoon and the house smelled wonderful all afternoon. We all relaxed and watched Netflix with Daddy once he returned home, waiting until the turkey would be finished for supper. Grandma called and let us know what time she had to be at the hospital Friday morning so Daddy knew what time he'd have to wake up to get to the hospital to be with her and Papa. 

I'm leaving us off right here because I know tomorrow (Friday) that I won't be able to think of much else besides Grandma. We'll be keeping busy with lessons and crafts while we pray for her to have a successful surgery. 

Recipes

Bagel Melts
1 bagel for each person (plain or onion in this house)
cream cheese
tomatoes
onions
sliced cheese
thin sliced ham (or bacon or exclude the meat during Lent)

Half each bagel. Preheat oven to 350*. Spread cream cheese on each bagel half and place on a cookie sheet or flat pan. Place thin sliced ham on top of the cream cheese. Top with sliced tomatoes and onions and cap it off with sliced cheese. Put in oven and bake for approximately five minutes or until heated through and the cheese is melted. Serve on bagel per person.

* Daddy eats two complete bagels with all the trimmings for supper so be sure to take into account the appetites of those whom you are feeding. *

Tuna Noodle Casserole
3 -4 cans of tuna in water (we like ours with a lot of tuna)
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
1 jar of salsa con queso cheese dip - medium spice
onion powder
garlic powder
pepper
1 bag of egg noodles (or noodles of your choice)
1 sleeve of saltene crackers
1 cup of shredded cheese
1 medium onion diced
1 bell pepper diced
1 small package of mushrooms diced

Combine tuna, cream of mushroom soup, salsa con queso, and seasonings in a casserole pan. Preheat oven to 350*. Saute vegetables on stove top with a tbs of butter while boiling noodles (about ten minutes). Add vegetables and noodles to casserole pan and mix well. Crush crackers in the sleeve and then sprinkle over the entire top of the casserole. Add shredded cheese to the top. Bake for about 30 minutes. Serve.

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Island of Lost Girls - Book Review

Island of Lost Girls

By - Jennifer McMahon

Book Review

I started reading this book with a little trepidation. I don't usually like books with children being missing ... speaks to a deep seated fear of mine. But, once I began reading this book I was quickly drawn into the story line. How did the missing girl from now have anything to do with the missing girl from the main character's childhood? Who was the mysterious Peter Rabbit who kidnapped the little girl right out of her mother's car in the middle of the day? Where was Rabbit Island? All these questions kept me reading the next chapter and the next until suddenly all was revealed and the book was finished.

There are plot twists and questions throughout this book and it will keep you guessing at what is coming next. Follow the twists and turns of a small town girl's childhood, watch as the newly kidnapped girl eats at the main character until she gets to the bottom of the mystery, and just when you think the book is finished be astounded by the secrets revealed from her childhood.

There's a couple of scenes that include mild sexual content and one in particular that will have your blood boiling in indignation for the victim. Neither are so explicit that I wouldn't allow my teenage son to read the book. But, perhaps ... since the book is so real to life ... it's not a book that I would hand him to read at the moment. He's well aware that our world is not all sunshine and rainbows and he knows of most of the terrible things that can happen to people when others prey on them. I just don't think that he's quite ready for some of the stark reality that this book reveals.

All in all this is a wonderful book and I will be reading it again. But, for now, I have so many more books to read on my reading list that it'll be more than a year before I return to it. Perhaps then I'll allow my son to read it as well.